Barak orders reopening
of Gaza airportTalks with Sharon broken off
JERUSALEM, Oct 18 — Just hours after a ceasefire agreement in Egypt, and despite continuing clashes, the leaders of Israel and Palestinian territories returned home to start implementing details of the unsigned accord.

UN convention on
N-arms needed: IndiaUNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 — India has introduced a resolution in the
UN General Assembly calling for commencing talks on an international convention prohibiting the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances.

Motion to impeach
Estrada filedMANILA, Oct 18 — A group of Philippine Congressmen filed a formal motion today to impeach President Joseph Estrada for alleged links to gambling lords.

Bush has edge over Gore in final sparWASHINGTON, Oct 18 — Texas Governor and Republican George W. Bush was firmly in the saddle against US Vice-President and Democrat Al Gore in the presidential race after the third and final campaign debate here yesterday, according to opinion polls held soon after the debate.

‘None can dare’ close Pak madrasasWASHINGTON, Oct 18 — Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has ruled out the possibility of the nuclear weapons falling into the hands of religious fanatics and said he would not like to use these weapons unless his country’s security was jeopardised.

5 NRIs to raise funds for kids’
educationLONDON, Oct 18 — Five enterprising Indians settled in the UK plan to travel to India using only public transport to raise £ 200,000 for educational projects in the country.

Islamic group owns up bombing
DUBAI, Oct 18 — A little known Islamic group which says it carried out a suicide bombing that killed 17 US sailors in Yemen threatened more attacks unless Washington stopped supporting Israel, a regional television station has reported.

JERUSALEM, Oct 18 (DPA, AFP) — Just hours after a ceasefire agreement in Egypt, and despite continuing clashes, the leaders of Israel and Palestinian territories returned home to start implementing details of the unsigned accord.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave the green light to reopen Gaza airport, while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat apparently gave orders to end nearly three weeks of protests against Israel that have claimed nearly 100 lives, most of them Palestinians.

But there was little sign that the agreement from the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharmel-Sheikh had filtered down to the ground, where three more deaths were reported. Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in Gaza and Jerusalem, and the Israeli army once again used anti-tank rockets against the protesters.

King Abdullah of Jordan, one of the key mediators at the emergency summit in Sharmel-Sheikh, best summed up doubts about the ceasefire, to which leaders gave only verbal approval. Keep “fingers crossed,” he told reporters at the summit.

In Israel, the right wing Opposition party Likud broke off discussion on Tuesday night with Mr Barak about building a coalition. Likud leader Ariel Sharon said he welcomed the ceasefire accord, but criticised Mr Barak’s failure to secure the disarming of Palestinian militia leading the unrest. Mr Sharon also objected to plans to continue peace talks. Barak commands only one-quarter of Parliament’s 120 members after criticism of his failed peace efforts since June.

As a show of good faith in the agreement, the head of the Palestinian airlines, Fajes Seidan, announced that Israel had reopened the only airport that serves Palestinians — in Gaza. Barak ordered the airport closed shortly after the clashes began.

The reopening of the airport is a key part of the ceasefire agreement, which took place after intense and often stormy 25 hours of mediation by U.S. President Bill Clinton, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Jordan’s King Abdullah and European Union foreign policy adviser Javier Solana.

Mr Clinton specifically mentioned that an ultimate agreement must be based on U.N. Resolutions that call for Israel to withdraw from all territories it seized in 1967.

While harried negotiators hammered out the emergency agreement in Egypt, Israeli settlers and soldiers shot dead two Palestinians and wounded several others and Palestinians opened fire at apartment buildings on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

By late afternoon there were signs that the violence was abating, but Palestinians continued stoning Israeli vehicles and soldiers, Israel Radio reported. An Israel Radio correspondent described Bethlehem as looking like “a war zone”.

Mr Mohammed Dahlan, Palestinian Preventive Security head in the Gaza Strip, told Voice of Palestine Radio that the Palestinian Authority had no intention of disarming the Fatah militias leading the demonstrations against Israel. The militant Hamas organisation said it, too, would continue with the uprising against Israel, and the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a leaflet denouncing the accord.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Barak has said he had ordered his security forces to “do everything” to implement the agreement between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at quelling almost three weeks of deadly violence.

“It is our intention to exhaust the possibility of implementing the components of the Sharm declaration,” Mr Barak said in a statement yesterday.

Mr Barak said as part of the Sharm declaration aimed at ending the violence and restoring regional stability, “detailed security understandings were formulated on all related issues.” “These understandings were deposited with the USA, which will monitor their implementation,” he said after his return from Sharm.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (PTI) — India has introduced a resolution in the
UN General Assembly calling for commencing talks on an international convention prohibiting the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances.

Moving the resolution in the Disarmament and International Security Committee of the un general Assembly, on the lines of one adopted by the Assembly at New Delhi’s initiative last year, Indian Ambassador to the Conference Rakesh Sood yesterday strongly criticised the nuclear powers for claiming the right to possess such arms in perpetuity.

In this context, he reiterated India’s demand for a step-by-step process to eliminate nuclear weapons backed by a legally binding instrument prohibiting the use or threat of use of such arms.

“It is a matter of regret that due to inflexible position of certain delegations, the Conference of Disarmament has so far not been able to commence negotiations on this subject,” he said.

The resolution would be discussed by the committee which is expected to recommend to the General Assembly to adopt it during its current session.

The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 20 member states, underlines that the use of nuclear weapons poses the most serious threat to the survival of humankind and refers to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion in 1966 that use or threat of use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable to armed conflicts.

“At the beginning of the new millennium, a vote in favour of this resolution would also be a vote of confidence that the international community can take decisive steps towards the goal of freeing the world of nuclear weapons,” Mr Sood said.

India has called for comprehensive reforms of the UN including financial, to ensure the world body’s continued relevance and responsiveness to the needs of the new century as well as the new millennium.

Regretting that non-payment of assessed dues by some member states is holding up payment for troops and equipment to the countries participating in peacekeeping operations, Indian representative, Vaiko, asked all members to jointly pledge to pay assessed contribution and arrears in full without conditions under any solution consensually arrived at.

“Reforms in the organisation would be possible only if all of us are willing to abide by our commitments and display our unflinching and unconditional support to the organisation and its charter, including payment of assessed contribution and arrears in full and on time,” he said, addressing the UN General Assembly yesterday.

Out of the more than $ 2 billion in arrears to the world body, the USA owes the maximum.

Vaiko, who is member of Parliament, pointed out that the world body owes 19 countries, including India, more than $ 20 million each.

In this connection, Vaiko referred to non-payment to troop contributors even for operations undertaken five years ago such as in Somalia and Cambodia. The situation in Sierra Leone is such that “terming it precarious is an understatement,” he added.

MANILA, Oct 18 (Reuters) — A group of Philippine Congressmen filed a formal motion today to impeach President Joseph Estrada for alleged links to gambling lords.

It was the first official step taken by the Opposition in its campaign to force Estrada out of office after accusation he received $ 8.7 million in payoffs from gambling syndicates running an illegal numbers game.

Estrada has denied any wrong-doing and said he is ready to face any impeachment action, a process which could take months. He has said the charge are a “political hatchet job” by his opponents.

Under Congressional rules, any impeachment case must be approved by one-third of the 218-member House of Representatives — or 72 lawmakers. The Senate then holds a trial and two-thirds of the 22-seat chamber must vote in favour for the President to be removed from office.

Estrada’s ruling coalition controls 82 per cent of the lower House seats while a loose alliance of senators generally support Estrada in the Senate, theoretically ensuring the defeat of any impeachment action, political analysts said.

The lower House has a heavy load on its agenda and is unlikely to be able to discuss the impeachment case until next month at the earliest, House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno told Reuters.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (UNI) — Texas Governor and Republican George W. Bush was firmly in the saddle against US Vice-President and Democrat Al Gore in the presidential race after the third and final campaign debate here yesterday, according to opinion polls held soon after the debate.

Sharp differences on domestic policy issues marked the wrap-up debate of the presidential campaign but foreign policy issues hardly mattered for the select audience of St Louis who were given the opportunity to shoot questions to Gore and Bush.

The candidates fielded interjections mostly on medicare, social security, decline in moral standards and scepticism of the youth in the electoral process.

While Gore used almost every available opportunity to take a dig at his Republican opponent for supporting the privileged sections, Mr Bush concentrated on policy differences between the two parties.

Both the candidates, however, agreed on the needs for capital punishment to put down crime, preventing children from watching violence and pornography on internet and television and checking the gun culture infiltrating in schools.

Bush made a scathing attack on President Bill Clinton for his policies on West Asia, saying that “We cannot put West Asia peace process on our time table. It should be on the time table of those participating in the peace process (Israel and Palestinians).’’

He further said, “the USA cannot dictate the terms of peace.”

When Al Gore attacked Bush for announcing lesser quantum of investment in defence, the Republican retaliated, saying he could only come second in the spending therapy suggested by his opponent.

Gore also said that the tax cuts offered by Bush would benefit only 1 per cent of the wealthy persons.

Emphasising the need for electoral reforms, Gore said he would move the Congress for campaign reforms Bill at the first given opportunity.

Gore also attacked the drug industry for spending more on advertisement rather than research and development. “They want monopoly patent protection so that they could price their drugs high,” he said.

He intends to streamline the approval of competing generic drugs so that people could get affordable medicine.

The last debate showcased each candidate’s strength: Gore marshalled his vast mastery of policy details and seemed to rely on polls showing him the favourite on the issues, while Bush vowed to bring new leadership to Washington, reflecting the surveys’ findings that the US public prefers his warmer style.

Analysts agreed Gore faced the more serious challenge after losing ground to his rival after the first two exchanges, on October 3 and October 11, despite being seen as the more experienced debater.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll published yesterday put Bush’s lead at 48-44, while in a CNN-Gallup poll it was 47-44, both leads were within the surveys’ margins of error.

Following the encounter each candidate planned to brainstorm the key battleground states — including Missouri. These states are expected to decide the election, which has focused on domestic issues, especially the role of government and how best to use the massive projected budget surpluses resulting from the longest economic expansion ever.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (UNI) — Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has ruled out the possibility of the nuclear weapons falling into the hands of religious fanatics and said he would not like to use these weapons unless his country’s security was jeopardised.

“They (nuclear weapons) are secure. The national command authority is in place. They are extremely secure and that is my guarantee,” General Musharraf told US television channel CBS in an interview.

On Washington’s viewpoint that the military regime in Pakistan was supporting militants, using that country as a base, to carry out violence in Jammu and Kashmir, General Musharraf repeated Islamabad’s oft-quoted reply, “There is no government sponsorship of any kind of military activity in Kashmir. There is no such thing.”

Meanwhile, one of the most revered and radical Islamic leaders of Pakistan, Samiul Haq has warned that the Pakistan Government will be gone in a few days if it dared close down Islamist militant-run “madrasas” (religious schools) as the Army would not put up with any such intervention as suggested by the USA.

The views of Samiul Haq, whose “madrasas” are sought to be closed by the USA for their links with Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden and who was also interviewed by the US TV channel were in sharp
contrast to General Musharraf’s claim that his country was a moderate Islamic state where no religious party has won seats in the National Assembly.

“If any one even dares to close down these “madrasas” totalling around 4000 in Pakistan, the government will be gone within days. Our Army is also a Muslim Army. So if any General tries to do this, the Army will turn against him,’’ Samiul Haq said.

The interviewer concluded that it is Haq’s graduates who are now Osama bin Laden’s protectors.

According to Pakistani journalist, Ahmed Rasheed, between 60,000 and 1,00,000 Islamic militants, who have fought and trained in Afghanistan, have returned to Pakistan in recent years.

LONDON, Oct 18 (PTI) — Five enterprising Indians settled in the UK plan to travel to India using only public transport to raise £ 200,000 for educational projects in the country.

Ramesh Jadva, a retail businessman, Bharat Parmar, civil engineer, Proful Dhah, accountant, Divyakant Shukla, osteopath and Mukesh Mehta, estate agent will set off on their “mission 2000” from a bus stop in Harrow, north West London on December 8 and plan to reach Amritsar, 12 days later, travelling through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.

A coach service will take the five, all members of the CAR Education Trust, a UK-registered charity, from London to Budapest. Then there will be trains to Istambul, followed by coach journeys to Zahedan on the Iran-Pakistan border, where they will walk across the border to get a train to Quetta and Lahore.

From Lahore they will get a bus to the Indian border, where they will again cross on foot to continue their journey by coach to Amritsar, Jadva said in a press release.

DUBAI, Oct 18 (Reuters) — A little known Islamic group which says it carried out a suicide bombing that killed 17 US sailors in Yemen threatened more attacks unless Washington stopped supporting Israel, a regional television station has reported.

Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite television yesterday said it had received a statement from the Quwat al-Rad’ al-Islamiya (Islamic Deterrence Forces) renewing its claim to have bombed the USS Cole in Aden Port.

The group “warned the USA against siding with Israel and warned it that it would pay a heavy price’’ if it continued that policy, Jazeera added.

Another group called Jaysh Mohammad (Mohammad’s Army) has also claimed responsibility for the attack.

WASHINGTON (DPA): U.S. Naval crews found six more bodies and were searching for six more from among the 17 sailors killed in the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole last week in Aden, Yemen, the Pentagon has said.

The Defence Department also said on Tuesday that engineers were preparing the crippled $ 1-billion destroyer for transportation out of the region on a huge Norwegian-owned carrying vessel, which has been contracted for $ 4.5 million.

The USS Cole will be transported by the heavy-lift ship Blue Marlin from Aden to a repair facility in Europe or the USA.

WORLD BRIEFS

Pamela may marry again
BERLIN: Actress Pamela Anderson could get another shot at wedded bliss by splitting with Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee after her new boyfriend, Swedish male supermodel Marcus Schenkenberg, said he wants to marry her. “She is the most beautiful, famous and sexy woman in the world,” Schenkenberg told the mass circulation German daily
Bild. — Reuters

Astronauts finishthird spacewalk
CAPE CANAVERAL (USA): Astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery wrapped up the third of four scheduled spacewalks as they prepared the International Space Station for the November arrival of large solar-panelled “‘wings” longer than the space station itself. Spacewalkers Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur rerouted cables, installed power converters and generally admired the view for six hours and 48 minutes on Tuesday before returning to Discovery’s air lock.
— Reuters

Guinness book setsnew record
FRANKFURT: The Guinness Book of Records has set a new record of its own — seven million copies sold of its first edition of the new century. For the glossy bible of the world, wacky and wonderful has reached a new milestones and that is cause for much celebration at the world’s largest book fair being stages this week in Frankfurt.
— Reuters

$ 23,000 for abottle of wine
ADELAIDE: An Australian auction house is claiming the world’s highest price for a bottle of wine after attracting a winning bid of $ 23,000 for a rare first vintage of the country’s most prestigious wine, Penfold’s Grange. “As far as we know, it’s the highest recorded price for a single bottle of wine in the world,” RMG auction manager Lisa Kanbar said.
— Reuters

Bandaranaike’s eyesrestore sight of two
COLOMBO: Two blind men in Sri Lanka have had their sight restored by eyes donated her by the world’s first woman Prime Minister, Late Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Doctors at Colombo Eye Hospital said on Tuesday that corneas of Bandaranaike — who died on October 10 at the age of 84 — were transplanted into the eyes of two men, aged 32 and 70. The two recipients were not identified.
— AFP

John Lennon’s pianosells for $ 2 bn
LONDON: The piano on which John Lennon composed “Imagine” was sold for £ 1.45 million ($ 2.08 million) in a live trans-Atlantic auction that caps a month of Beatlemania. “The buyer, who has wished to remain anonymous, has said the piano is likely to stay in Britain,” auctioneers fleetwoodowen.com said in a statement on Monday. Steinway has authenticated the upright walnut piano as the one Lennon bought in 1970 for around $ 1,000.
— Reuters

Minister’s apologyover chained aborigine
SYDNEY: An aborigine serving a six-month jail term for breaching parole was taken handcuffed and chained to her uncle’s funeral in Australia, sparking a public outcry and forcing a state
prisons minister to apologise on Wednesday. “While handcuffs may have been appropriate, chains are a breach of policy,” Queensland State Prison Minister Tom Barton told Reuters on Wednesday. Barton said chains were only appropriate when a high-risk prisoner was outside jail.
— Reuters

Premature babies ‘havesmaller brains’CHICAGO: Premature infants have smaller brains then children born at full term, which can lead to developmental problems, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Ms Bradely Peterson, a Yale University professor in child psychiatry and lead author of the study, said, “By age of eight years, over 50 per cent are in special education. One-fifth have already repeated a grade of school.” The study, estimated by the researchers to be the first of its kind, could help with early treatment for children at risk for cognitive or developmental disabilities.
— AFP

US pair hikesGreat Wall
EAST LANSING (Michigan): Two men form the USA have hiked the entire length of the Great Wall of China — a feat they hope places them in the history books. Eddie Davis and Beau Bacevicius completed the 3,200 km trek last month. Davis, a Michigan State University sophomore, and Oakland University student Bacevicius began the 109-day trek in June in Jiayuguan and ended in Shanhaiguan, near Beijing, almost 80 days sooner that they had anticipated. According to their research, the 19-year-old duo are the first Americans and the youngest hikers ever to successfully complete the trek.
— AP

Unesco prize fortolerance
PARIS: The $ 40,00 Unesco prize for tolerance and non-violence has been awarded to the leader of the Egyptian Coptic Church, Shenouda III, Unesco-Director-General Koichiro Matsuura announced in Paris on Tuesday. It is the third time that the prize has been awarded. An international panel chaired by Ivory Coast author and philosophy professor Tanella Boni said in the Pope Shenouda III had dedicated himself to the promotion of tolerance.
— DPA

Quake rocksJapan
TOKYO: An earthquake measuring an estimated 3.9 on the Richter scale jolted the
western part of Tottori Prefecture, about 660 km west of Tokyo, on Wednesday, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said.
— DPA